By Mindy Phan
11th grade | Skyline High School | Utah
Second place winner, Peace and Conflict category
With lines from “The US Military Is Embedded in the Gaming World. Its Target: Teen Recruits” by Rosa Schwartzburg, a Pulitzer Center reporting project
Press Tab to view objectives
> SOLDIER: In this world you are faultless and failure and free.
No matter what your job is, you are supposed to help the military
kill.
Press I to view inventory
> SOLDIER: I remember carrying the armor,
> 8lb M4,
> Rifle and 5lb grenade attachment,
> Love letter,
> 7 old magazines (good condition),
> Stranger’s good blessings,
> [ERROR]
> Used cigarette,
> Dead man’s last words,
> Faded hair ribbon.
> SOLDIER: Select an item. If you can’t carry the moral injury,
hold D to drop it.
Press M to view map
> SOLDIER: My girl called me last night said bring home a body
and maybe a medal. I’ve got a family waiting for me a girl to take
to the movies to gift medals like necklaces to kiss and forget and
do it all over again. The world ended last night and started again,
and my girl’s waiting for me to bring home my body.
> SOLDIER: My girl called said
I’ve got a family waiting a girl
to kiss and forget and
The world ended
and my girl’s waiting
> SOLDIER: a body
I’ve got
to forget
The world
for me to bring home
> REBOOT.
Press V to inspect weapon
> SOLDIER: Explain that we’re not robots, we’re people. We’re
these kids that don’t know any better. We’re the same hobbies,
the same loves. We’re blood-soaked flesh and muscle. Sharpened
blade. Wet circuitry. Faulty code and error parts. We go
out and fly, we run red with rust, we fight to give these fists a
name. That man is not my father, and this war is not my battle.
When I use this body to hurt, it won’t stain my hands, and the
first time that I kill a man, he won’t even bleed.
Press C to view character stats
> SOLDIER: Mom says I’m detail-oriented and I’m a problem
solver under time pressure and I’ve got perseverance in the
face of frustration and when this game ends another begins
because I’m only a son when they don’t need a soldier and
when I’ve run down my time to keep being your boy I’ll make
some good fodder instead.
> SOLDIER: Mom says I’m
under pressure
when this game begins
I’m only a son when a soldier and
I’ll make
some good
> SOLDIER: Mom
I’m only a son
when
being
good fodder
> REBOOT.
Press X to start fighting
> SOLDIER: Press X to start fighting.
> [ERROR]
> SOLDIER: start flying.
> START OVER.
Mindy Phan is a part of the graduating class of 2025 at Skyline High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. As a proud daughter of two Vietnamese immigrants, she sees art as a celebration of the cultural and linguistic diversity to be found in the broad human experience. She hopes to express the complicated reality of life and love in conflict through the "malfunctioning code" of this poem. Above all, she is incredibly honored to have her writing recognized by the Pulitzer Center.
Read more winning entries from the 2024 Fighting Words Poetry Contest.